This invention relates to a protector of the brake tube for use in vehicles, and more particularly pertains to a protector of the brake tube, which is usually led in a longitudinal direction along the external periphery of the rear axle housing, for safeguarding or sheltering the brake tube from being damaged by any kind of outside impulse such as a hitting by the exhaust pipe.
The brake tube for the purpose of supplying hydraulic oil to the brakes for the rear wheels of a vehicle is mostly led along the rear axle housing; and in most cases an exhaust pipe for the exhaust gas from the engine is fitted over the abovementioned housing. And the brake tube is subject to various kinds of possible damages as described hereunder.
Since the exhaust pipe is usually suspended from the chassis or the car body with a string-like material such as rubber card, it is liable to swing with a considerable amplitude when the vehicle is driven on a rough road, thereby interferring with the rear axle housing which may severely vibrate together with the rear wheels. Sometimes the string-like material is so deteriorated during prolonged use that it may be fractured so as to cause the exhaust pipe to fall down onto the rear axle housing.
In the event of such cases the brake tube is often squashed by the exhaust pipe, and even fractured in some worse conditions inviting the serious danger of loss of braking. For the purpose of avoiding such troubles, a brake tube safeguarding protector has been attached to the portion, immediately below the exhaust pipe, of the rear axle housing.
Investigation by the inventor of this problem proved that the conventional protector is insufficient in its protecting capability. The reasons are as follows:
(1) A conventional protector of inverted V-shape cross-section, which is formed of a plate member, is welded on the rear axle housing simply to make a longitudinal rib, along whose foot the brake tube is led; PA1 (2) This type of protector can only be expected to protect the brake tube from the damage due to the exhaust pipe falling down from above while maintaining its horizontal posture; PA1 (3) The rear axle housing is in actual cases susceptible to various different types of impulse, because the exhaust pipe may fall down not necessarily in a horizontal posture, and even the rear axle housing itself may bounce up and down and sometimes its motion is accompanied by rotative movement.
Another important factor of damaging the brake tube is attributable to corrosion of the exhaust pipe due to an inevitable temperature elevation of the exhaust gases. The use of some catalysts, in recent years, for the purpose of eliminating the poisonous substances from the exhaust gases raises the temperature of the same and thereby accelerates the corrosion not only of the string-like material for suspending the exhaust pipe but also of the pipe itself so badly as to cause it to fall down.
In such a case the falling down of the damaged exhaust pipe takes a more complicated form and thereby causes various dangerous happenings. Furthermore, the rear axle housing and the exhaust pipe can hit or interfere with one another even in the course of vehicle assembling due to inadvertent work of assembling workers or some other causes. Considerations for the protection of the brake tube must be paid so as to reduce the probability of or completely avoid damage on account of such causes.
As aforementioned the rear axle housing is badly subjected to the danger of being damaged by hitting of the exhaust pipe from various angles and in many complicated forms, and thus the brake tube which is led or laid down along the external periphery of the rear axle housing is liable to be damaged. Improvement of such a poor protection state for the brake tube has been an urgent matter remaining unsolved.